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Huang Q, Song C, Crawford A, Jiang Z, Platt A, Fatih K, Bock C, Reed D. An ultra-stable reference electrode for scaled all-vanadium redox flow batteries. RSC Adv 2022; 12:32173-32184. [PMID: 36425702 PMCID: PMC9645223 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra05781f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Redox flow batteries (RFBs) have been investigated as a promising energy storage system (ESS) for grid applications over the past several decades due to their unique features, which include the separation of energy and power output, high safety, and long cycle life. It is therefore vital but still in severe deficiency to understand the reliability of RFBs, and the mechanisms that cause degradation with time. One of the primary challenges involves the unseparated contributions from individual electrodes due to the absence of a stable reference electrode (RE), particularly for long-term cycle testing in a scaled cell. Herein, we first develop an ultra-stable RE for scaled all-vanadium RFBs. The newly developed RE, based on a dynamic hydrogen electrode (DHE) with a novel design on the area (size) and surface roughness of platinum electrodes, demonstrates high accuracy and long-term stability that enables in situ monitoring of individual electrode potentials throughout 500 cycles. By introducing the RE approach to decouple the cathode and anode in conjunction with the measurement of voltage profiles, overpotentials and polarization curves, the reliability and degradation mechanism of a scaled all-vanadium RFB are further explored, revealing the diverse behaviors of individual electrodes. This exploratory work will benefit the future design and development of a stable RE for a scaled ESS, as well as the fundamental understanding of the RFB's reliability and degradation mechanism. An ultra-stable reference electrode with novel design has been developed for scaled all-vanadium redox flow batteries, which demonstrates high accuracy and long-term stability over 500 charge–discharge cycles.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Huang
- Battery Materials & Systems Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Chaojie Song
- Energy, Mining & Environment, National Research Council Canada, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada
| | - Alasdair Crawford
- Electricity Infrastructure & Building Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
| | - Zhengming Jiang
- Energy, Mining & Environment, National Research Council Canada, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada
| | - Alison Platt
- Energy, Mining & Environment, National Research Council Canada, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada
| | - Khalid Fatih
- Energy, Mining & Environment, National Research Council Canada, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada
| | - Christina Bock
- Energy, Mining & Environment, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - David Reed
- Battery Materials & Systems Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
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Vincent I, Lee EC, Kim HM. Solutions to the water flooding problem for unitized regenerative fuel cells: status and perspectives. RSC Adv 2020; 10:16844-16860. [PMID: 35521448 PMCID: PMC9053628 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra00434k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFC) are capable of generating, storing, and releasing energy on demand in a sustainable manner. Water management is of vital importance to achieve maximum performance, durability, and round-trip efficiency in URFCs. However, URFCs suffer from critical issues related to their mode-switching process, water flooding, and membrane dehydration. The essential problem of water management is maintaining a subtle equilibrium between membrane drying and liquid water flooding to prevent membrane dehydration and ensure high URFC performance. This paper provides an overview of the operating principle of URFCs and describes the underlying phenomena related to water management issues. It also summarizes state-of-the-art studies of water management with a focus on recent developments and discusses the technical challenges of water management strategies. In addition, we propose a novel system design to address these critical water management issues. Overall, this review identifies the gaps in the research and development of URFC water management and identifies several essential future developments and research directions for future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Immanuel Vincent
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, High Safety Vehicle Core Technology Research Center, INJE University 607 Eobang-Dong Gimhae-si Gyongsangnam-do 621-749 Republic of Korea +82 55 324 1723 +82 55 320 3666
| | - Eun-Chong Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, High Safety Vehicle Core Technology Research Center, INJE University 607 Eobang-Dong Gimhae-si Gyongsangnam-do 621-749 Republic of Korea +82 55 324 1723 +82 55 320 3666
| | - Hyung-Man Kim
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, High Safety Vehicle Core Technology Research Center, INJE University 607 Eobang-Dong Gimhae-si Gyongsangnam-do 621-749 Republic of Korea +82 55 324 1723 +82 55 320 3666
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Choi C, Choi Y, Kim S, Jung HY, Kim HT. Resistor Design for the Use of Dynamic Hydrogen Electrode in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries. Electrochim Acta 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.07.152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Manokaran A, Pushpavanam S, Sridhar P. Dynamics of anode–cathode interaction in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell revealed by simultaneous current and potential distribution measurements under local reactant-starvation conditions. J APPL ELECTROCHEM 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10800-015-0800-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Uhm S, Lee HJ, Lee J. Understanding underlying processes in formic acid fuel cells. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2009; 11:9326-36. [DOI: 10.1039/b909525j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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